This article is part of our NFL Reactions series.
Cardinals running back David Johnson's place near (or at) the top of fantasy rankings isn't a new concept. He was widely considered an early first-round pick in fantasy drafts, and he's usually ranked highly in weekly rankings, both for season-long leagues and DFS. But not all players live up to that kind of hype (hi, Todd Gurley!) and it's always impressive when a guy reaches or exceeds preseason expectations by killing it each and every week.
And that's exactly what Johnson does: he produces each and every week. Johnson may not get 100 rushing or receiving yards every week, but he has reached 100 total yards in all 12 games this season after rushing 18 times for 84 yards and a touchdown, while also catching nine of 12 targets for 91 yards and another score in Sunday's 31-23 win over Washington. Johnson has rushed for 1,005 yards this season, caught 64 of 96 targets for 704 receiving yards, and he's been a touchdown force since the Cardinals' Week 9 bye, scoring seven times (three rushing, four receiving), with at least 11 targets in three straight.
My writing colleague Mark Stopa had a solid line about Johnson as he was (presumably) working on his DFS rosters this weekend:
Making DFS lineups would take less time if David Johnson was simply preloaded in all of them.
— Mark Stopa (@MarkStopa) December 3, 2016
What struck me about the tweet was the first response, which was someone saying they
Cardinals running back David Johnson's place near (or at) the top of fantasy rankings isn't a new concept. He was widely considered an early first-round pick in fantasy drafts, and he's usually ranked highly in weekly rankings, both for season-long leagues and DFS. But not all players live up to that kind of hype (hi, Todd Gurley!) and it's always impressive when a guy reaches or exceeds preseason expectations by killing it each and every week.
And that's exactly what Johnson does: he produces each and every week. Johnson may not get 100 rushing or receiving yards every week, but he has reached 100 total yards in all 12 games this season after rushing 18 times for 84 yards and a touchdown, while also catching nine of 12 targets for 91 yards and another score in Sunday's 31-23 win over Washington. Johnson has rushed for 1,005 yards this season, caught 64 of 96 targets for 704 receiving yards, and he's been a touchdown force since the Cardinals' Week 9 bye, scoring seven times (three rushing, four receiving), with at least 11 targets in three straight.
My writing colleague Mark Stopa had a solid line about Johnson as he was (presumably) working on his DFS rosters this weekend:
Making DFS lineups would take less time if David Johnson was simply preloaded in all of them.
— Mark Stopa (@MarkStopa) December 3, 2016
What struck me about the tweet was the first response, which was someone saying they preferred Le'Veon Bell over Johnson. Granted, Bell has been excellent this year, but he came into the season with a three-game suspension, which made people nervous taking him early in fantasy drafts, and while he has reached at least 100 total yards in eight of nine games, he has scored just four touchdowns, including two in one game, which means he's only found the end zone in three games this year, as opposed to Johnson who is on a four-game TD streak. Obviously both players are excellent, but it's very tough to think Johnson isn't the best fantasy option in the NFL.
Sticking with the Cardinals, congratulations to Larry Fitzgerald, who passed Cris Carter and Marvin Harrison to move into third on the all-time reception list, while also moving into the top 10 of the all-time receiving yards list, passing Andre Johnson. Fitzgerald has been around long enough that he was going to accumulate enough yards to be an all-time great, though he did fail to reach 1,000 yards in three consecutive seasons before exploding for 1,215 yards and nine touchdowns a year ago, and he now has plenty of time to reach the 1,000-yard mark this year. There was talk in September that Fitzgerald was going to retire at the end of the season, which he denied at the time, though even if he does play another season or two, he's not going to reach the top of the two lists he moved up on Sunday, as Jerry Rice leads both with 1,549 receptions and 22,895 yards, roughly 500 receptions and 8,000 more yards than Fitzgerald.
Another receiver etching his name into the record book Sunday was the Giants' Odell Beckham, who became the fifth player in league history to have at least 1,000 receiving yards in each of his first three seasons in the NFL, joining John Jefferson, Randy Moss, A.J. Green and Mike Evans, the latter of whom doing so just last week. Jefferson never had more than 830 yards in a season after his streak, but it feels pretty safe to assume Green, Evans and Beckham could be mentioned with Fitzgerald in a few years if they stay healthy.
Beckham and Evans both joined the league after the 2013 season, which was the last time Ravens tight end Dennis Pittascored a touchdown until he did so twice against the Dolphins on Sunday. Pitta dealt with serious hip injuries over the past few years, playing only four games in 2013, three games in 2014 and none in 2015 before finally returning this year. He hasn't been terrible prolific, but he surely was active Sunday, helping quarterback Joe Flacco throw for 381 yards and four touchdowns, with his other scores going to wideout Breshad Perriman and running back Terrance West, who also rushed for a score. Notably absent were leading receivers Mike Wallace and Steve Smith, who have four and three receiving touchdowns this season, respectively. Flacco surely has his moments for fantasy owners, but he distributes the ball too widely to comfortably pair him with any of his receivers.
If you think the history makers were only on the offensive side of the ball, you must not have watched the Chiefs' Eric Berry dominate the Falcons on Sunday, becoming the first player to ever return an interception for a touchdown and return one for a two-point conversion in the same game. The record is a bit screwy because this is the first season a team defending a two-point attempt could score the two points for themselves, but it's still an impressive feat, especially since the Falcons went ahead 28-27 on a five-yard touchdown pass from Matt Ryan to Aldrick Robinson only for them to fall behind and eventually lose by one because of Berry's return. The pick-six was the Chiefs' fourth this season, double the next highest teams. The Chiefs also have the top punt returner in Tyreek Hill, who has returned 24 punts for a league-best 375 yards, and he has 12 kickoff returns for 342 yards and a touchdown, one of six players in the league to score on a kickoff this season. Additionally, his 28.5 yards per kickoff return trails only the Vikings' Cordarrelle Patterson's 30.5. Many people pick a weekly defense/special teams based on matchups (or really low price on DFS sites), but the Chiefs seem to be moving into a tier all by themselves.
Speaking of pick sixes, Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles has thrown three in his last four games, which means two-thirds of his touchdown passes over that span have actually been scored by his own team. Bortles was dreadful Sunday against the Broncos, completing 19 of 42 passes for 181 yards and two picks, though his 29 rushing yards and a touchdown salvaged what was headed to be a disastrous fantasy day. Unfortunately, fantasy owners of Colin Kaepernick weren't so lucky to have someone as "good" as Bortles.
Kaepernick lined up against a fairly weak Bears defense and put up one of the worst fantasy days you'll ever see from a starting quarterback, as he completed one of five passes for four yards before getting replaced at halftime by Blaine Gabbert. Kaepernick was sacked more times than the number of passing yards he had, as the Niners got throttled 26-6 to a Bears team that improved to 3-9 with the win. On the plus side, fantasy owners who knew to target the Niners' run defense despite keeping Jay Ajayi in check last week were rewarded with a huge game from Jordan Howard, who rushed 31 times for 117 yards and three touchdowns. It's worth noting that it was snowing in Chicago for the entire game, but you'd think the 49ers had never seen snow in their entire lives by the way they played.
